Please enable JavaScript.

Prevents people from talking to each other openly, increasing isolation.

The Eyes

Handmaids are each other's spies

Symbolism of eyes shows how Offred feels like she is constantly watched

"There remains a mirror on the wall... like the eye of a fish"

isolation of handmaids in Gilead society.

the fear of talking to other handmaids

"It occurs to me that she may be a spy, a plant, set to trap me; such is the soil in which we grow. But I can't believe it; hope is rising in me, like sap in a tree. Blood in a wound. We have made an opening." (27.46)

Limited communication between members of the same household. Handmaids aren't supposed to talk to the Marthas a lot

Relates to the fear instilled in totalitarian regimes. For example, the power of the Stazi in East Germany after WW2. When people are routinely requited to report on one another, there is no freedom.

walton

no companions on boat. causes him to block his feelings.

"alone, alone, all alone"

because Walton is friendless he is more open to Victors company and enthusiastic about itbecause he has no one to speak to he writes long letters to Mrs Saville, his sisterboth of these drive the narrative plot

Creature is made in isolation

"solitary chamber"

"workshop of filthy creation"

Isolation in Romantic thinking

William Wordsworth/Lyrical Ballads "emotional recollected in tranquiliy"Romantics believed in the importance of recollecting powerful emotions in peace

However, dangerous to be fully alone because no people to consult withRousseau theorized the "Social Contract"- there is an implicit social code to follow, if people are alone they do not need to follow thisF'stein alone, doesn't follow contract, doesn't consult anyone who could tell him why he's wrong, creates monster

Monster is unique and thus isolated

"godless": nothing to believe in, the monster's creator is Frankenstein and he rejects him

Context: Sublime

"The solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial nature" pg. 92

rejection of isolation by characters in both the novels.

"But people would do anything , rather then admit that there lives have no meaning "

victor's inability to love

the monster was ugly, and it causes victor to have love issues.

"The Handmaid's Tale"

when new regime comes to power

everyone has a specific role. in addition there are harsh punishments for breaking/ not obeying the rules

Offred immediately feels isolation from her husband once her money is removed from her and placed under his control. This comments on the isolating effects of patriarchy. How can men and women truly be together in a loving relationship when one is the master and the other the slave?

Context: Coleridge's Ancient Mariner

Mariner kills albatross (harms/defies nature) and this results in his isolation

Victor is like the Mariner, he does not tell his friends or family what he has done (just like the Mariner doesnt tell the crew) then they all die and both the Victor and the Mariner feel the need to tell their story to a stranger